Where resources are made available to the general public or to a particular group of people for temporary use, resource access/return systems are used to provide and reacquire the resources. For instance, many corporations provide access to company cars to employees for temporary (e.g., single day) use. In another example, rental car companies permit customers to use the companies' automobiles in exchange for a fee based upon the duration of use and/or the number of miles driven.
In either of the example scenarios identified above, there are several managerial tasks that need to be conducted, many by a human agent. For example, in either situation, the automobiles must be made available to the users and later reacquired from the users. The first of these actions normally requires the transfer of a key to the user, recordation of the user's identity and information concerning the particular automobile taken, adjustments to the car “inventory,” and so forth. Reacquisition of the resource normally involves the return of the keys, recordation of the mileage driven, readjustment of the car inventory, and the like. In the rental context, automobile return typically further involves the payment of a rental fee on the part of the user and often requires the user to return the car at a location remote from the desired destination, for instance, an airport terminal.
Although current access/return systems function adequately well, the requirement of human intermediation both complicates the procedures and wastes the user's time. Additionally, in the rental context, present return systems can be particularly disadvantageous where the user (i.e., renter) is running late and does not have time to return the car at a remote location.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that it would be desirable to have a resource access/return system that is wholly or partially automated so as to simplify and expedite the resource access and return processes.